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LONDON (Reuters) - British businessman Mike Ashley has agreed to provide 2 million pounds of funding, interest free, for troubled club Rangers in return for the removal of the Scottish side's chief executive.
Ashley, who owns English Premier League club Newcastle United and almost 9 percent of the voting rights of Rangers, had been calling for a shareholder meeting to oust Graham Wallace, CEO since last November, and financial consultant Philip Nash.
On Monday Rangers said the club had agreed the new six-month funding deal with Ashley and in exchange the founder of retail group Sports Direct would get to appoint up to two directors to the board.
The 54-times Scottish football champions also announced that Wallace had resigned, following Nash out of the company after he quit last week.
The latest boardroom drama follows years of upheaval at the club. On the field it has climbed back within one division of the top flight of the Scottish game after its 2012 collapse under a mountain of debt forced it to relaunch from the fourth tier.
However, its progress on the pitch has been marred by boardroom infighting and further financial losses.
It now finds itself at the centre of Ashley's latest financial play. The billionaire has recently pulled off a string of surprise moves, including a put option agreement last month on a small stake in Britain's biggest grocer Tesco and a move to increase his stake in Debenhams.
(Reporting by Kate Holton, Editing by Paul Sandle)